Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Great Debate: Sugar vs Fat

The truth about fat is that it’s generally not the evil criminal you may well imagine it to be. In fact, it’s not even the main offender when it comes to weight gain. I realise how ironic that sounds! But the truth is that eating fat can not only keep you in good physical shape, it can affect your hormones, your energy, your digestion, and even your sleep. Not to mention give you the vitality to bend, reach, twist, and pull to your maximum!

Five things you need to know about eating fat for optimal nutrition and an enhanced practise.

1. Your body will make fat whether you eat it or not. In fact, most fat in your fat cells is made in your body from carbohydrates! This means the more sugar you eat, the more those fat cells expand. This will have a detrimental effect not only on your waistline, but also your health and the longevity of your vital organs. (Pst: that means your life-span).

2. Fat (no, I don’t mean candy bars, I’m talking about good fat) is an important and necessary nutrient for your health. It’s needed for calcium absorption, it protects the liver from toxins, and it enhances the strength of your immune system

3. Without enough fat in your diet, your body will deliberately slow your metabolism and hold onto existing fat. This is a survival instinct that you can’t fight. Rather than using fat, your body will eat up all your muscle for energy, which will only slow your metabolism further, and make you feel terrible!

4. Choosing a high-carb diet that is also low in fat can cause your body to release insulin more day in, and day out. Insulin’s main job is to enhance your fat storing capabilities. This will literally make you a fat storing machine, and will slow your digestive system, robbing you of energy and leaving you tempted to sit out all those tough master poses! Eating the right amount of fat will help balance your hormones and flatten your stomach by burning existing fat stores, and will give you the get-up-and-go to push through even the longest triangle pose.

5. We all have individual fat requirements. The best sources are from natural, organic sources, such as coconut oil, organic meats, raw nuts, and quality oils. To learn more about how much fat you need, stay tuned for our next Food for Yoga seminar, and keep reading this blog.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for my next musing to learn more – I welcome your questions at any time, regardless of how related they are to this topic! If it has anything to do with Food for Yoga, I’m your girl. The comments section of this blog is there for a reason – don’t be shy; get involved. Today!

And remember – it’s not just Food for Yoga. It’s Food for Life.

Kat